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Dame Dawn Ruth Lamb DBE JP (formerly Taylor, née Ritchie; born 17 May 1940) is a former New Zealand schoolteacher. She was principal of Christchurch Girls' High School between 1987 and 1998.

Early life and family

Lamb was born Dawn Ruth Ritchie, the daughter of Ruth Adelaide Ritchie (née Leadbeater) and Leslie William Ritchie, in the Auckland suburb of Kohimarama on 17 May 1940. Her first marriage was to Denis Taylor, and the couple spent time in Ghana, where Lamb worked as a personal assistant to Thomas Lionel Hodgkin at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. After moving back to New Zealand in the late 1960s, the couple divorced, and she married Douglas Lamb.

Education career

After returning from Ghana, Lamb worked at Auckland's Dilworth School, and later as a dean at Rangitoto College. She was involved in the establishment of Macleans College in the Auckland suburb of Howick, where she was the inaugural senior mistress from 1980 until 1986. While teaching in Auckland, Lamb studied part-time and completed a Bachelor of Laws degree.

In 1987, Lamb was appointed principal of Christchurch Girls' High School, and she remained there until retiring to Wellington in December 1998. She soon became involved with He Huarahi Tamariki in Porirua, New Zealand's first school for teenage parents, where she worked part-time to establish an early childhood centre, which she went on to manage.

From 1990, Lamb was an executive member of the Secondary Principals' Association, the Teacher Registration Board, and the secondary joint action group of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Other activities

Lamb is a justice of the peace, and in 2005 she was appointed as a visiting justice, with the authority to hear charges and appeals relating to offences against prison discipline, the treatment and conduct of prison inmates, and to inquire into alleged abuses in prisons.

Honours

In the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lamb was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to education.

References

1. ^ "Lamb, Dawn Ruth (Dame), 1940–". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
2. "Births". New Zealand Herald. 18 May 1940. p. 1. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
3. ^ "Interview with Dawn Lamb". National Library of New Zealand. 5 October 1993. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
4. ^ Iosefa, Sarona (21 October 1998). "Few regrets for Dame Dawn". The Press. p. 1.
5. ^ "Birthday honours led by women". New Zealand Herald. 12 June 1993. p. 1.
6. "Teenage mums' school denied childcare funds". The Dominion. 9 November 1999. p. 7.
7. "Dig this". The Dominion. 29 April 2000. p. 3.
8. Birnie, Lindsey (17 February 2001). "Hepatitis screeners refuse Pakeha". The Dominion. p. 3.
9. "Visiting justices appointed". New Zealand Gazette. No. 83. 26 May 2005. p. 1980.
10. "Minister appoints 23 visiting justices". New Zealand Government. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
11. "No. 53334". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 12 June 1993. p. 37.

• 1940 births
• Living people
• People from Auckland
• Christchurch Girls' High School faculty
• Heads of schools in New Zealand
• New Zealand Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• New Zealand justices of the peace